January 13, 2003
CARTER LEADS FURMAN PAST WESTERN CAROLINA 71-67
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Tony Carter converted four free throws over the final nine seconds of play and scored a season high 20 points to lead Furman to a 71-67 Southern Conference win over Western Carolina Monday night at Timmons Arena.
With Furman leading 67-65, Carter, a freshman guard from Burlington, N.C., was fouled with nine seconds left and drained two free throws to give the Paladins a 69-65 advantage. After Rans Brempong’s dunk with 1.5 second left pulled Western Carolina to within two points at 69-67, Carter was fouled again on the inbounds play but calmly sank another pair of free throws to give Furman its winning margin.
The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Furman (7-11, 1-3 SoCon) and marked the third straight defeat for Western Carolina (4-10, 1-2 SoCon).
The Paladins, who made just three field goals over the game’s final 11:26, proved lethal at the free throw line over the contest’s last seven minutes, converting 17 of 19 free throws, including their last eight.
“We needed that one (the win) for our mental state as much as anything,” said Furman head coach Larry Davis. “We were finally rewarded for a lot of hard work, and I hope tonight’s win will lead to more, because we will continue to work hard and play with intensity.”
Joining Carter in double figures for Furman were Karim Souchu with 15 points and Jason Patterson with 13 points.
Western Carolina got a season high 18 points from Brempong, who also collected a game high nine rebounds and a pair of blocks to move into a tie for fifth on the Southern Conference’s career blocked shots list with 193. Kori Hatcher added 16 points, but Kevin Martin, the Catamounts’ leading scorer (23.1 ppg), was held to a season low eight points.
“I thought we hung in there for 35 minutes tonight after playing 25 good for 25 minutes against VMI and 30 minutes against Davidson in our last two games,” said Western Carolina head coach Steve Shurina. “We’re going in the right direction, but tonight we had some stupid fouls, and they (Furman) did a good job of hitting the boards and getting second shots. Overall, I thought we played well enough to win the game, but we had some big mistakes down the stretch.”
Trailing 57-52 following a Brempong basket with 8:43 left, Furman fashioned a 7-0 run on the strength of a three-pointer and three free throws by Carter, and a pair of free throws by Souchu at the 6:20 mark to take a 59-57 lead.
After a pair of Martin free throws tied the game at 59-59 with 5:38 left, Carter put Furman back ahead with two more free throws eight seconds later.
Western Carolina took its final lead of the game at 63-61 on a three-pointer by Terrence Woodyard at the 3:24 juncture, but the Paladins answered with six straight points by Nick Sanders, including four on free throws and a layup following an offensive rebound with 14 seconds remaining to make it 67-63.
Furman converted a season high nine three-pointers on 22 attempts but shot only 40.7 percent from the field (22-of-54). Western Carolina, meanwhile, shot 45.3 percent from the field (24-of-53) and 8-of-19 from three-point range (42.1 percent).
Furman returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Davidson for a 7:00 p.m. game. Western Carolina will take on The Citadein Charleston this Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m.